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| Sketch by VR Eli. |
Purvo, Capellan Confederation
13 November, 3051 00:31
“Sao-Wei Blackwood, your presence is requested in the briefing room,” a largely unidentifiable voice buzzed over the intercom.
The dark haired man opened one eye, “Acknowledged.”
The quarters were meager at best. Large enough to fit a bed, a steamer trunk full of Ken’s effects and a small work table that was usually cluttered with scraps of writing. Currently, however the table was cleared of only a scant few items. Behind the table on the wall hung a scrap of hull from Ken’s old Archer 2W. In front, sat Sao-Wei Ken “Archangel” Blackwood, kneeling on his feet in a meditative pose. Rising to stand, Ken aligned his knuckles as he pulled on fingerless gloves.
Briskly proceeding down the corridor as requested, Ken arrived at the briefing room and was met only by one other MechWarrior: Sao-Shao Stoneblade.
“Due to the time-sensitive nature of this mission,” Stoneblade started once Ken had taken a seat in front of the display, “We’ll need you to fly this one solo, Archangel.”
“Understood, sir,” Ken shifted back in his seat, making an effort to hide the excitement he felt at his first solo mission.
Stoneblade continued, “A jumpship originating from Davion space has appeared at the Zenith jump-point of the Purvo system. Unfortunately, the recon teams took a bit to get us the intel, so we only have about a day’s lead to clear the area shown here,” The officer punched up a map of the Mekonig river on his datapad, which in turn was displayed on the large viewscreen in the room. Zooming in on an area roughly a click outside the Planet’s Capital, Ventiane. The officer continued, pausing only a moment to highlight a path through a large cave, “Your mission today will be to establish a patrol sweep. We will need you to secure the area, verifying the target of opportunity, and its load of salvage is clear for our units to retrieve. The target is a freighter that ran aground, and is of interest due to its payload."
A second picture was pulled up for Ken to view at this point, showing an enhanced image of a large ship that had been dashed apart in the middle, presumably by the rocks on which it had run aground. “No hostile contact is expected at this point, but your first objective is to secure this perimeter so the CCAF can set up some… festivities for our guests. The cargo can be secured when you are on the return trip to base.”
“Any questions, Sao-Wei?” Stoneblade, who in the past had struck Ken as a rather amiable sort, was austere and stern.
Ken grinned a little at this, his characteristic smile, cocked to one side of his face. Understanding the need for the rigor and discipline Stoneblade was exhibiting, Ken did his best to regain his composure and match the Officer’s expression before continuing.
“Seems straight forward: Follow the path you’ve outlined, report in and engage any Tangos I encounter.”
“Excellent. Try to get some sleep before sunup, you’ll launch at daybreak.” The Sao-Shao offered a stiff salute.
Ken stood up and returned it, “Sir.” Turning on his heel he left again for his quarters, crisply polished boots clicking against the tiled floor as he departed.
1st Company BattleMech Bay
Purvo, Capellan Confederation
13 November 3051 05:10
Launch went as usual. Crawl into the cockpit of his Hunchback-4G, “Sarna’s Pride.” He flicked the tin and glass bauble he had pulled from his grandfather’s aging and battered Arc-2W on his final eject years earlier. It swung and danced on it’s chain, a vibrant red.
“Reactor On-line,” the ‘Mech whirred and lit up. The neurohelmet interfaced with Ken's mind, turning the mass of servos and steel into an approximation of life.
“Sensors On-line,” Readouts sprang to life.
“Weapons On-line,” Ken afforded himself another cocked grin as the Autocannon to the right of the cockpit slammed a fresh round into place.
“All systems nominal.”
Ken pushed his throttle and began marching out of the Hanger. Watching as some of the crew whistled as the ‘Mech they had helped maintain sprang to life in defense of Purvo. Ever the crowd-pleaser, Ken offered a wave and a wink to the astechs as he walked past.
The trip down the Mekonig was mostly uneventful, even the sound had a particularly muted quality to it that made the lonely march a little more nerve-wracking. Unfortunately, Purvo’s precipitous season had a damnable tendency to experience one final cold snap at the end. Ken wasn’t an enormous fan of snow, though he had to admit to himself the fat flakes falling lazily from the sky were pretty enough from the contrasting heat coming from the fusion engine on which the cockpit sat.
Ken sighed a bit before he toggled the Tac-Comm on. “Archangel reporting in. I am approaching the target area and am beginning patrol.”
“Acknowledged, Archangel,” the Tac-Comm squaked back. It sounded like Stoneblade again. “Patrol commences at oh-five-thirteen hours.”
“Roger, Actual. ”
Proceeding through the cave went quietly, which Ken was grateful for. Fighting in such cramped quarters was always grueling to him. Even with the close-ranged weapons Ken had on his Hunchback, the prospect of facing death down here was especially terrifying given his claustrophobia.
“Tunnel is clear.” Dutifully, he reported in prompting another curt acknowledgement from the Sao-Shao..Ken continuied into mountainous and thickly-forested terrain, small trees snapping under his Hunchback's mechanized feet, punctuating the silence that Ken had found so worrisome on the march in. It started to cause him to become a little paranoid. Almost as if the strange popping of the frozen trees were there to build anticipation on this otherwise silent patrol along the Mekonig.
Walking on his way to the freighter the silence was punctuated by the chirp of sensor readings. Keened reflexes snapped into action as he thumbed the reticle on his Heads-Up-Display. An enemy contact was registered as Ken’s eyes darted from his map readout, to targeting readouts.
“Contact, Actual. Looks like one… Thunderbolt,” Ken hit the Tac-Comm with the excitement of a child preparing to open a present. He looked at the enemy on his display almost hungrily, “Requesting permission to engage.”
“Acknowledged, Archangel,” a response came back swiftly, “Looks like Davion filth. You are free to engage the T-Bolt.”
The characteristic grin travelled to both sides of his face at this, taking on a more malevolent, predatory semblance. The bloodthirsty pilot began to take over. The throttle was pushed to max at once, and Archangel cursed as the target dropped from his sensors.
“Capellan dog, I have no time for these games,” An unsecured comm channel was opened from the T-Bolt. A comment designed to rise anger.
“Come out and play, FedRat,” the Capellan fired back, exceeding the vitriol in the invader’s voice. Flying any flag was a matter of pride, sometimes enough to inspire impassioned warriors to glory on the battlefield. The Gatekeepers were no exception, handpicked from the most steadfast and loyal from throughout the Confederation. Ken's own bilious hatred welled up in his throat, as he remembered watching his native Sana being overrun by the Davion menace years before.
Archangel swung wide, hoping to catch the ‘Mech hiding around the ridge where he had been seen. “Damn, too fast. He realized a moment too late, as SRM fire impacted his back from the wreckage of the ship which lay now behind him. He was happy to notice his shields had taken a lot of the hit. Still, he was quick to spin his Hunchback around, not willing to make the same mistake twice. He levelled his lasers in the direction of the fire in time to see the Thunderbolt fleeing behind the ship.
“Cute.”
Not willing to approach the SRM volleys head on, Archangel followed the enemy ‘Mech’s path around one of the sides of the freighter that was still intact in an effort to catch the Thunderbolt by surprise. Archangel was not disappointed, as the enemy had been hoping for a similar mistake to be made by the single Capellan on patrol.
Jade laser fire scoured the shields from the enemy’s back, leaving internals bare to the noisy, hefty shells of Ken’s AC/20. At this, the Davion pilot ran with his tail between his legs to the other side of the mangled freighter. With practiced reflex, Archangel whipped his legs around a full one-hundred-eighty degrees to perform a “Reverse Thrust” maneuver. Mirroring his enemy, and moving to the other side of the deadly playground the two had created, Archangel was met with what his eyes perceived as a shotgun blast to his face.
“Archangel, report!” Stoneblade piped up again over the comm. His voice was a bit more unmistakable over the static. Louder and more urgent this time after watching the Hunchback’s readout display the damage to it’s middle on the monitors in Actual.
Archangel had to take a breath and regain his composure, the shock of the autocannon had rattled the cockpit. “I’m fine, sir, the Tango is packing an LB-X, the scum,” Present in spite of the jolt, he managed to keep his throttle set to maximum. Ken, continuing the dance the two had initiated, began to circle to the Thunderbolt’s rear. Hunchbacks had rarely been accused of being speedy, even for a medium-sized ‘Mech, but neither had something so cumbersome as the heavier Thunderbolt.
The Davion pilot tried his damnedest to follow Ken’s tightening circle, but was only able to manage this enough to clip the Hunchback once more with autocannon fire. Putting one of it’s medium lasers out of commission in a flurry of thick, black smoke.
As a personal preference, Archangel liked to use direct fire as opposed to scatter-shot. Less collateral damage, more salvage that way. Leave it to a Davion to attempt surgery with a chainsaw. Ken thought, chuckling to himself. His preference was not dissuaded at all when he barrelled into the Thunderbolt with all of his remaining weapons. The autocannon shredded through the Heavy’s rear in a shower of sparks that hung in mid-air like morbid fireflies. At this, the steel behemoth crumpled to one side, not stirring.
“Tango is down.” Ken said into the tac-comm, with a mixture of triumph and relief. “I don’t read any other hostile contact… Just the one?”
“Roger that, Archangel. It looks like they sent a forward unit to feel us out. Guess they won’t be getting any intel from him. We'll need you to wait for our VTOLs to gather up the cargo before you depart. Once that is accomplished, return to Base for debrief.”
“Copy that.”
He waited as the vehicles and their crews arrived to complete their meticulous and tedious work. Once all the salvage had been secured Archangel turned back. He heaved a sigh of relief, both happy, and disappointed at how unremarkably the remainder of the detail had passed. Beginning a lazy stroll back, retracing his earlier steps along the river his eyes were drawn back to the clustered flakes of snow.
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